Review: Sotto Sotto, Bath

Over the Winter break my favourite dining partner and I headed to Bath for a couple of days of relaxation before the Christmas festivities began. On choosing a restaurant for our lunch time arrival we took to TripAdvisor to find out where had been well reviewed. It’s unusual for the top 10 to be affordable let alone number 1, so we were surprised to see such rave reviews associated with what looked like a very reasonably priced restaurant Sotto Sotto.

Sotto Sotto describes its menu as ‘classic Italian with a contemporary twist’. Situated just a few steps away from the Roman Baths, Sotto Sotto’s candlelit vaulted cellars with bare stone walls invites you to have a unique dining experience.

Appletisers poured 😉 we were served a portion of fresh bread in a wee brown paper bag.

We set things off with a Bruschetta Classica and starter of Calamaretti Fritti ai Sette Sapori to share.

The Calamaretti Fritti came in a brown bag on a wooden board, continuing the rustic Italian look. The squid coated in ‘seven herbs’ was served with lemon in a muslin cloth and garlic aioli. It was tasty, but perhaps the calamaretti was a tad undercooked – I would have prefered it to be crispier.

Sotto Sotto offer a selection of pasta and risotto dishes, as well as salads, specialities and pizzas. We both opted for a pasta dish as we guessed that’s what Sotto Sotto would do best. I went for the Penne alla Vodka and my dining partner chose the Linguine al Profumo di Mare.

Although penne alla vodka is a relatively simple dish made up of fresh tomato sauce, cream, pancetta, onions and a splash of vodka it was absolutely delicious. The pasta was cooked beautifully al dente, the only negative was that the pancetta was a bit too chewy, slightly overdone.